Since the election of black mayor Linda Thompson, Pennsylvania's beleaguered capitol city has started to spin out of control. She's had three spokespeople in her brief tenure, the city's top lawyer has just quit, and the SEC is investigating.

Most damning were the words of the last spokesman, one Chuck Ardo, a Rendell administration figure recruited to help fix the mess. He broke the usual code of silence surrounding such departures, declaring that

”I believe the mayor is intent on doing the right thing, but the challenges are greater than her ability. This job would be difficult for absolutely anybody with experience, and here’s a woman who has no experience in management or managing crises."

The local newspaper, the Patriot-News, dropped its usual protection of Thompson when it was revealed that she liked to bash Jews and gays.

Ah, the pungent diversity of it all. Nut-job black radical mayors, Jewish spokesmen, homosexual controllers... it would all be entertaining, except that it just doesn't work. It's dysfunctional. And with a population that's about half black, even a talented and cooperative management team could only hope to keep up a Potemkin village of First-World status.

You know — enough to reassure the legislators who convene there that race isn't a reality.